Spinning our wheels

newsom bike.jpg
Newsom and me at a past Bike to Work Day.
While other U.S. cities pedal forward with smart policies to encouraging bicycling -- the cheapest, easiest and greenest of the transportation options besides walking -- San Francisco continues to lag as we move toward annual Bike to Work Day on May 15. Part of that is the court injunction against new bike projects, but even more of it is a simple failure of political will by Mayor Gavin Newsom and other civic leaders.
We saw another example of that cowardice in this morning's Chron when Newsom and some supervisors promised to fight new parking fine increases even if it meant scaling back needed improvements to Muni. Meanwhile, Newsom years ago announced plans to offer easy bicycle rentals at many bus stops, yet it is Washington DC that actually went ahead and did it, following the lead of Paris and other world-class cities. Newsom has a bunch of high-paid environmental advisers, and his web page announcements are always chock full of green promises, so why does San Francisco have such a hard time with such a basic goal of encouraging more bicycling in this 7x7 city?

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patmonk

**GET OUT OF TOWN.
I think an indication of the depth of GCN's true personal committment to "Greenwashing this City", may be demonstrated by the fact that he had to ride a bicycle from Blazing Saddles, not his own - if he still has one - possibly got a nice little kickback too.
Of course parking fees should be raised first, apart from any other consideration they're breaking the law GODAMNIT. Increasing Muni fares and cutting services places more of a burden on those who can least afford it and, whether out of choice or necessity, are lessening the carbon load on us all. However his position is consistent with his 'let them eat cake and I'll wash their feet once a month' approach to the problems of the less privileged among us. Parking that 100K Roadster must be a real inconvenience.
Randy Shaw's column today suggesting the boy blunder is currently favored to become the next Governor is a frightening prospect and should be a wake up call. DUNK THE PUNK.

** Oh that's right, he's on the road again. If we're due for another disaster let's hope it happens in his abscence so someone who cares for more than cash can handle the situation.

Posted by patmonk | April 29, 2008 09:10 AM

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